The Radioactive Gas That Gives Canada Leverage Over America's Nuclear Arsenal

By The Decision Room

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12 years. That's the half-life of tritium — the radioactive hydrogen gas at the heart of nearly every modern nuclear warhead. Every 12 years, half of it decays away. Miss the replenishment schedule, and the most powerful weapon ever built quietly becomes a dud. The United States produces the tritium for its nuclear deterrent in exactly ONE reactor — Watts Bar in Tennessee, run by the TVA. American defense analysts have warned for years that this is dangerously fragile, and that the U.S. may be unable to produce enough tritium to sustain its own stockpile. Now look north. Canada's CANDU reactors — the uniquely Canadian heavy-water design — produce tritium as a byproduct, routinely and at industrial scale. The Tritium Removal Facility at Darlington, Ontario (running since 1989) processes up to 2,500 tonnes of heavy water a year and has recovered ~1.5–2 kg of tritium annually. Canada's fleet makes roughly 2 kg a year. According to experts, virtually all of the world's usable civilian tr

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